Social Equality Minister Gila Gamliel believes that sovereignty in Judea and Samaria must be a priority for the government that is formed after the upcoming elections, even if US President Donald Trump releases his peace plan this year.
"We have to face the Americans with the fact that we are here in the country that we have been given the right to return to," Gamliel told Arutz Sheva. "There is no room for another dictatorial state in the Middle East."
In her opinion, the relevant American officials, from Congress to Ambassador David Friedman, will allow the promotion of a process that keeps Israel's interests in mind and goes outside the box of the two-state solution. She also noted that the reality in the Gaza Strip, which was taken over by the Hamas terrorist organization following Israel's withdrawal, reinforces the claim that there is no choice but to advance a plan of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria.
"The Israeli interest is to maximize what is possible during the Trump term so that we will be able to make significant achievements that the US administration will support," Gamliel said. She added that she believes that the White House now has officials who are willing to hear and promote alternative programs such as the plan to establish an island off the Gaza Strip and the establishment of a Palestinian Arab state in the northern Sinai with the economic strengthening of Egypt and other ideas that insure that Israel does not lose its historical and moral right to its territory.
"As a result of the flourishing of relations with the Arab countries, a phenomenon that Prime Minister Netanyahu has accomplished so well, we can create a broad axis of countries here that can support the process of humanization and then talk about such ideas.
When asked why she did not advance the plan of sovereignty during the years of Likud rule, she recalled the difficult state of US-Israel relations during the Obama era and the desire to work together with the Trump government and its leadership. "It was difficult to survive the political period of Obama. In the past two years, Trump wanted to lead the move, and I welcome that. Now we need to present a coherent plan talk without stuttering. We would be prepared to include an overall view of the area and then we can create something new and more accurate plan tailored to the interests of our ideology and our principles."
Referring to the Likud primaries which will be held before the election, Minister Gamliel said that she has met a broad number of people who want to strengthen the prime minister and expressed reservations about what she called political parties that are unlikely to survive the political campaign and seek to ensure that their voter turnout will be large enough for them to enter the Knesset.
Gamliel believes that despite the surveys that give her party 26 to 30 seats at the most, the goal of 40 Knesset seats which the prime minister has set for the party, is still realistic. She supported her belief by citing the results of the previous elections when the Likud received 30 seats polls showed the party winning only 18 seats.
She also discussed the investigations against Prime Minister Netanyahu. Gamliel said that she believes that no one suspects Netanyahu of committing bribery offenses involving money, rather it is the suspicion that all matters of political-media relations can constitute bribery in and of themselves. Such an interpretation could put many politicians in legal trouble.
She warned that if Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit decides to indict Netanyahu it could open up "Pandora's Box."